No more excuses: The "men's league" starts Friday for UMass hockey

UMass needs to clean-up against teams like Lowell during the month of January
photo by J. Anthony Roberts

UMass coach Toot Cahoon's theme this year has been "No more excuses", so starting Friday we'll hold him to that.

I always say there are reasons, and there are excuses when it comes to sports, and for the UMass hockey team, the early 3-9-3, 2-4-3 start had its reasons.

There are 13 freshman on a team that lost almost everybody as far as top scorers through defection to the pros or graduation. There were injuries to goaltender Paul Dainton and winger Danny Hobbs early on. There was the death of the brother of freshman Jeff Hanley just before the start of the season. Freshman Troy Power separated his shoulder in the exhibition game. Nine of the first 15 games were played on the road. Five of the first nine Hockey East games were against Boston University, New Hampshire, and Maine, three on the road.

Okay, all done.

Now there are 18 games left, all in Hockey East. The Minutemen actually haven't fared that badly in Hockey East play with two of the three ties at BU and UNH. They've also played the least number of games in the conference at nine. They are only a third of the way through the conference schedule, and Dainton is back and sharp, Hobbs is back and scoring, and the freshmen have gained valuable experience in big time venues like Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The month of January, usually a morbid month for UMass, becomes the month of opportunity. And while coaches never look at this long a stretch of games at once, we can.

There are eight games in January, four at home, four on the road. The first three out of four are at home starting Friday night against a better than its record, but still beatable Northeastern (3-9-4, 3-6-3). Like UMass, the Huskies have played better in conference than out, and have scored 28 goals in HE games, and given up only 29. UMass is 23-25. This is a huge game. If the Minutemen win, that's momentum for New Hampshire the next night, also at the Mullins Center. UNH has a likely win coming Friday night at home to last place UMass-Lowell.

If the Minutemen could get say a win and a tie this weekend, that sets them up for a home and home series the following weekend with Lowell. If they could sweep those games, and split the next two sets, two games at Vermont, and then home and home with Northeastern, that's a 5-2-1 month for 10 points, and a 7-6-4 Hockey East record. Wouldn't that be terrific going down the stretch with all kinds of games against Boston College and Maine? But it all starts this weekend, These are must-points games, especially Friday.

So the period of "reasons" now must give way to "No More Excuses" as what Cahoon calls "the men's league" starts Friday night. The freshman initiation period is over, and it's time to play with the "swagger" for which Cahoon has been searching.